23 killed as bus falls into gorge in Himachal

At least 23 people, including six women, were on Thursday killed and 20 injured when a bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge on the banks of Baspa river in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh

The bus was on its way from SanglaValley to Kalpa when it skidded off the road and rolled 400 feet down into the gorge at village Rohtrung. Sixteen persons died on the spot, six others succumbed to injuries on way to hospital while one person died at Karchham helipad while he was being airlifted to Shimla, Kinnaur Deputy Commissioner D D Sharma said.

A magisterial enquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Governor Urmila Singh have expressed grief over the tragedy. 19 of the dead have been identified.

Eleven seriously injured persons have been air-lifted to Shimla and admitted to IGMCCollege at Shimla while nine others were admitted at Rekong Peo hospital. The driver and the conductor of the bus were killed in the accident.

Most of the victims were from surrounding areas and had boarded the bus 3 kilometres from the accident spot. Senior officials reached the site along with rescue and medical teams. All the bodies have been recovered. Three bodies were retrieved from the wreckages of the bus.

Besides state police, Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Homeguards, assisted by local people conducted the rescue operations. The bodies were handed over to the families after “on the spot post mortem” by a team of doctors.

The local administration has disbursed immediate relief to next of kin of each deceased and injured persons.

The deputy commissioner said that more assistance would be given to the kin of the deceased and the government would bear the expenditure on treatment of injured persons.

The CM directed the administration to provide immediate relief to the family members of the deceased and those injured in the accident.